Which of these combinations would be more effective?

[Sir Gilgamesh]

Which one would be more effective in terms of regrowth and then maintenance between:

Finasteride and Oral Minoxidil

or

Dutasteride

To add some background I’ve been on finasteride only the past 5 years which has mostly maintained with possibly losing ground very slowly over that span until sometime within the last 9 months. I’ve been working from home those past 9 months and in that span have noticed significant miniaturization along the temples and hairline while also taking hits in the crown and throughout the rest of my head.

Obviously the best combo for success would probably be a dutasteride and oral minoxidil combo, but due to various circumstances it might end up needing to be decided between the two previously mentioned combos.

Anyone have any personal experience?

 

[Selb]

If you’re losing ground on finasteride after 5 years you need to up your game on the androgen front. Oral minoxidil is a powerhouse but it’ll just be a growth inducer and will mask androgenic hair loss. I recommend 0.5% topical dutasteride once a week and microneedling with minoxidil.

If you’re only bound to those two choices, I would go with the dutasteride

 

[Sir Gilgamesh]

If you’re losing ground on finasteride after 5 years you need to up your game on the androgen front. Oral minoxidil is a powerhouse but it’ll just be a growth inducer and will mask androgenic hair loss. I recommend 0.5% topical dutasteride once a week and microneedling with minoxidil.

If you’re only bound to those two choices, I would go with the dutasteride

Is the overall increase of effectiveness of Dutasteride alone enough to make up for the ground that was lost while on finasteride? I’m also curious of your thoughts or if anyone has an idea around suddenly losing ground sometime within the 9 month span that I’ve been working from home. I’m sure that it’s likely finasteride just isn’t as effective anymore, but it still seems weird at how it seems to have started during this time.

 

[Selb]

Is the overall increase of effectiveness of Dutasteride alone enough to make up for the ground that was lost while on finasteride? I’m also curious of your thoughts or if anyone has an idea around suddenly losing ground sometime within the 9 month span that I’ve been working from home. I’m sure that it’s likely finasteride just isn’t as effective anymore, but it still seems weird at how it seems to have started during this time.

There’s no guarantee of anything but if you’ve lost it recently due to dht you should be able to make it up. Make sure to consider a topical AA like RU

 

[he_who_dares_wins]

I would go for topical finasteride + oral minoxidil. I also think you should consider some topical antiandrogen. Some people can keep a full head of hair by just inhibiting DHT. Unfortunately, that's not the case for everybody.

Btw, where do you guys get topical dutasteride? Is there a way to produce it at home?

 

[Sir Gilgamesh]

I would go for topical finasteride + oral minoxidil. I also think you should consider some topical antiandrogen. Some people can keep a full head of hair by just inhibiting DHT. Unfortunately, that's not the case for everybody.

Btw, where do you guys get topical dutasteride? Is there a way to produce it at home?

Ideally I want to do dutasteride and oral minoxidil, but I believe my dermatologist is only going to let me do either Dutasteride alone or continue with Finasteride and add oral minoxidil.

I know dutasteride is heavy duty on its own, but just seeing how bad the hair loss has gotten over the past several months makes me want to be more proactive and makes me want to add oral minoxidil as well, but as I mentioned earlier I will probably need to choose between the previously mentioned options.

For all I know side effects will be too strong from the dutasteride which will force me to go back to Finasteride. I currently have like that annoying ache in my chest/nipple area that is an indicator of Gyno and I’ve only taken 2 Dutasteride capsules in the last 3 days. I had this initially when I started finasteride and it eventually passed without causing full blown gyno although the dull ache would return sporadically over the course of the last 5 years. Obviously with dutasteride being stronger I have the concern it will actually cause gyno rather than causing a reoccurring ache in my chest/nipple/armpit area.

Personally I don’t have any current experience with topical dutasteride.

 

[he_who_dares_wins]

Ideally I want to do dutasteride and oral minoxidil, but I believe my dermatologist is only going to let me do either Dutasteride alone or continue with Finasteride and add oral minoxidil.

I know dutasteride is heavy duty on its own, but just seeing how bad the hair loss has gotten over the past several months makes me want to be more proactive and makes me want to add oral minoxidil as well, but as I mentioned earlier I will probably need to choose between the previously mentioned options.

For all I know side effects will be too strong from the dutasteride which will force me to go back to Finasteride. I currently have like that annoying ache in my chest/nipple area that is an indicator of Gyno and I’ve only taken 2 Dutasteride capsules in the last 3 days. I had this initially when I started finasteride and it eventually passed without causing full blown gyno although the dull ache would return sporadically over the course of the last 5 years. Obviously with dutasteride being stronger I have the concern it will actually cause gyno rather than causing a reoccurring ache in my chest/nipple/armpit area.

Personally I don’t have any current experience with topical dutasteride.

Some people in here use duta only twice a week or so (since it has a far longer half life than finasteride) and finasteride on the rest days. I have only been on finasteride, so I don't have any personal experience on duta, but it seems like a viable choice, which I will consider in the future.

 

[Sir Gilgamesh]

Some people in here use duta only twice a week or so (since it has a far longer half life than finasteride) and finasteride on the rest days. I have only been on finasteride, so I don't have any personal experience on duta, but it seems like a viable choice, which I will consider in the future.

I’ve thought about doing this as I’ve heard people have had success cycling the two, but I don’t know if I could get my dermatologist to do that.

I had called today in regards to getting a prescription for the oral minoxidil that he had suggested instead of dutasteride so that I can take both, but he wants me to go get blood work done before prescribing the oral minoxidil which I thought was weird since that wasn’t done before prescribing the dutasteride or even finasteride. When I had spoken with him it kind of sounded like he was going to make me decide between the dutasteride or the oral minoxidil and I assume he would still let me continue taking finasteride if I chose the oral minoxidil option.

I’m a bit unsure on what he is going to allow at the moment.